Oil prices near record levels, big banks losing billions of pounds and house prices stalling. The City is jittery, but how will such market gyrations really affect consumers?

At a garage on the Holloway Road in north London, businesswoman Olayinja Badejo was aghast last week as she watched the petrol pump while filling up her car.

"It's really appalling - over £1 a litre. That's too much," said Badejo, a mother of three who drives a Toyota Previa people carrier. "I run a small business and have three small children, so I'm using my car a lot for both. I have to.

"Two of my children attend different schools in opposite directions. They are trying to encourage us not to use cars, but there is no alternative."

Like many others Badejo is feeling the heat of high oil prices: petrol is now more than £1 a litre as crude oil prices threaten to hit $100 a barrel - a rise of 50% this year.

Not far away Robin Henry was facing a different financial setback. Over the years he had